Since the weather was better the next day and there was sun and no rain we decided it would be a good time to see Bergen from the bird’s eye view and go up the hill overlooking the city. We had seen the cable car yesterday which goes from the city, but since it was rainy and cloudy we did not bother. We wanted to save on a cable car fare so we decided to drive but of course the road was closed off half way since they wanted people to use the cable car. We started to walk up from the midpoint where we were able to leave our car but it was taking much longer than we had anticipated and we were able to get a good view of the city as it stretched into the sea. We had planned on going to Skundeshaven as a detour en route to Stavenger so we did not want to spend too much more time in Bergen trying to get a better view.
Since we had eliminated Skundeshaven, we needed a new detour and I had planned on going to another glacier but Hendrik wanted to go to the Fjells. He said he hadn’t been impressed with the other glacier and I said that we had already seen Fjells as well. We ended up flipping a coin because we couldn’t squeeze both locations into our itinerary. The glacier won, which made me happy. I had actually found the glacier when looking up a place we could go skiing. The glacier is the Folgefonna Summer Ski area, but unfortunately, the Start of September is too late for summer skiing so we could not ski but I was still curious to see it. To get to the glacier we had to drive up a very narrow hairpin turn road full of potholes. This road itself was gorgeous and the higher we drove the more moon-like and awe inspiring the landscape became with aquamarine pools scattered around the sharp scenery.
Once at the glacier, we could see the ski-lift poles make their way systematically upwards. There were holes and patches of bright blue ice in the glacier so it was clear that it would not be wise to go skiing on it now or even go for a walk. The most impressive thing about the glacier was by far the intense scenery which surrounded it. We were the only people there under the glacier after a group who seemed to have gone on a glacier hike or mountain climbing left and it was magical. It was the most beautiful and interesting landscape we’d seen in Norway.
Folgefonna Summer Ski Centre
On the way back down the narrow windy road we got stuck behind a small flock, or should I say gang of sheep. They wouldn’t move to the side of the road since there was no place for them to all go and standing one after the other would be too lonesome for heard animals who need to stay shoulder to shoulder which in this case meant blocking the road. We tried revving the engine and speeding up and though this did frighten the sheep it did not make them move to the side but rather resulted in us almost hitting a sheep in the butt. We also tried honking which resulted in a galloping heard which I guess is better than a slow moving one.
After the road became a bit wider as we descended we were able to pass the scampering aggravated sheep. I got out of the car to take a picture of our obstacle and they began walking towards me. At first I was glad that they were coming closer for the picture but their pace was steadily increasing and soon enough they were galloping towards me full speed ahead – a flock of charging sheep. I dashed into the car and before I could even close the door Hendrik had taken off. He didn’t want them to overtake us again. I didn’t want them to make me into a chew toy. He was also laughing hysterically at my near death experience as my heart pounded out of fear.
Charging Sheep
The peninsula on which the glacier was located was also the area of the most fruit production in Norway. They grew all sorts of fruits apples, plums, pears and cherries. Plums were in season and as we drove around the peninsula to the ferry port most every farmhouse would have a fruit “stall” or in other words a tiny rickety table with a few boxes of plums on it and an honesty box. We bought a box of plums from a charming farmhouse. It was quite possibly the cheapest food we bought in Norway as we left the suggest price in the honesty box. They were perfectly sweet and ripe and quite possibly the best plums I’ve ever had, especially since I’m not too big of a fan.
Taken from a ferry heading to Kinsarvik
We left the peninsula on a ferry to Kinsarvik and from there drove along the edge of the fjord. Along it, all the while we could see the glacier on the fjord across the water on top of the mountains like a white pie filling rising from its crust. After passing through Odda, we began to be a bit restless about finding accommodation and our GPS did not have anything in it for another 50 kilometers in our direction. It was a bit of a shame because then we were surrounded by waterfall after waterfall and it was getting a bit too late to enjoy it. Earlier, we had tried our luck at “wild camping” which is legal in Norway if you are a certain distance away from a house. The problem was that any place like this was far from a road and here either we were next to a house or the road was surrounded by a steep incline, which is definitely not fit for tent pitching. We also passed by a campsite with cabins which was closed. We decided to head off our rout towards Roldal. Since that was a ski area, there were cabins and soon we came across one. We were happy when a lady appeared next to the cabins we had pulled up next to as besides that it looked like the previous campsite – abandoned. Of course we took the accommodation and were pleasantly surprised how large it was and it had a bathroom attached so there was no comparison between a cabin near a city and in the middle of nowhere.